Stepping Stones (I'll be alright)
by Jinxgirl6000
Summary: Kaldur sees an old friend.


Kaldur hadn't seen him in years. Nor the Team, the League, even the Batman himself. Yet, Kaldur was able to track him here, a average apartment on the west side of bludhaven; a bit small but cozy and quiet.

And Kaldur wondered if he really wanted to be alone, or if it was too painful to be with others again.

"Go away, Kaldur'ahm", The once warm voice was cold, emotionless and only cared for Kaldur to be gone. "Thought you had your team back in Happy Harbor."

"No", Kaldur forced himself to find the once happy boy in the cold adult. "One of them is standing in front of me."

The adult glanced back, mask gone, showing harsh, shineless blue eyes. Eyes that used to melt Batman's soul, and eyes Kaldur had never seen before now.

"He might be a little lost-", The other's eyes narrowed dangerously, "-but I still see the once happy, smart-ass hacker and troll that I started the team with."

"That boy had died when he found out his _teammates_ were lying to him", the growl was so foreign to Kaldur, _But was that foreign to Batman the last few days with this man?_

"If that boy is dead, why do I still see him in you,Nightwing?", The name had affected him, eyes softening just a tiny bit from the cold glare.

"Why do I still see Robin in you, Dick Grayson?", Kaldur had seen it, the things his friend has done the past few years, the pain and troubles. The hardest, of course, his friend broke in front of him, his team, the league and his own mentor, yelling and angry, voice-creaking sobs that left him in silence.

After that, He had seen rare nights in the Cave where he would find Batman looking silently through Robin, Dick's, items in the mountain; head in his hands.

"Maybe because you are lying to yourself", DIck spoke, turning around fully so Kaldur can see the man in front of him; black hair, pale skin, blue eyes and strong jaw.

"I'm not the only one doing that, My friend."

"I'm not your friend", Dick spoke firmly, almost confidently, eyes again narrowing, "I'll like to think we never were."

"You can erase the people in your life, my _old_ friend. But not the memories", Kaldur almost smiled at the thought of the smiling boy on april's fool day. Covering Wally in chicken feathers and syrup.

"Meaning we can't ever forget that conversation. Or forget that you agreed with it", Dick growled, turning away from him to walk over to the small kitchen in corner of the room.

"Yes. We can't", Kaldur agreed, because if one thing was going to be honest between them, it was that conversation and Kaldur can't ever forgive himself.

"But I can learn from it", Kaldur cleared his throat. "And forgive."

"We can't, Kaldur'ahm!", Dick slammed his hand on the counter, a dangerous feral animal, that was more harmful to himself that others. Nothing like the boy he knew. But the stubbornness was there. "I thought the team could be trusted, an escape. And what do you talk about behind my back?"

 _Robin is cool, but he's just a little kid._

 _Robin is on a team with super-powered people, he just is..weaker than the rest of us._

 _His fighting style does more harm than good._

 _He's young, he just doesn't understand some things._

 _He's_ _ **human.**_

Human. Back then, it was just a species, compared to every other one weaker. They didn't understand, but they turn back time to fix it. Kaldur and his team couldn't forgive themselves for their words, but he can save his friend. He will save his teammate.

"Didn't you know how much that hurt?", The small whisper was barely heard over the silence in the room. "All of you, even my mentor, saw me as a liability."

Kaldur didn't know much about Batman's bond with his partner, but knew it was deeper than it could be described. That caused protectiveness. Two weeks before, Robin had been almost killed by the Joker. Batman might have been cold, but Dick Grayson was his light.

Just how he was his team's glue.

Kaldur didn't know what it was like, to be tortured, mentally and physically. To grow up through beatings and pain in a matter of weeks. But for his, and Dick's sake, he would stop his friend's pain.

"Being human isn't a liability", Kaldur stepped forward and Dick's stance stiffened, "It is feeling vulnerable, losing, making mistakes, and getting back up from a life that seems destroyed."

"How long did it take you to figure that out-?", Dick glanced at him, a non-glaring eye, softened and stared at Kaldur in slight, only slight, sadness. And Kaldur saw the old Dick Grayson rise from the ashes.

"I learned it from you", Kaldur smiled, and Dick didn't flinch as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't lock yourself away from us to avoid us. You didn't want see the memories."

Dick stared in front of him, hand slightly wavering as he gripped the counter. Showing on the proof Kaldur was telling the truth. Maybe it was the Batman in him that was too stubborn to admit it.

"You didn't want us to see you so vulnerable", Kaldur patted his shoulder.

"But know, My friend, You are the strongest person I know. You didn't slip up because you weren't thinking like a team player, it was because you are human. The strongest one I know."

Kaldur slid a small gift box up in front of his friend, "Remember, Robin is a legend. But they never die. You are Robin. Always will be. Happy Birthday."

 _I slipped up because I wasn't thinking like a team player. Because I don't want to be part of this team any longer._

"I'll always be here for you, We all will." With that Kaldur left, and the remind of the last words Dick said as he was quitting the team stayed in the air.

Dick glanced at the box, slowly reaching for it. He can't remember the last time he got a gift. Last time in the manor, with Alfred and Bruce. Happy.

Taking of the lid, a golden crest lay in the boy. A Batman symbol carved elegantly in the center, probably by Lucius. But in the center, a small carve out of a robin, wings out was engraved in the center of the bat.

Dick traced it with his finger, the meaning clear. Batman was his partner, still is, and will be. Batman and Robin, the dynamic duo. A bond unlike any other. More importantly, You are Robin.

And they say, Batman is stone cold.

Dick glanced at the note, elegant writing, Bruce's, in his home language.

 _Aveţi grijă de alţii, Robin._ You have taken care of others, Robin.

 _Fie propriul erou, pasarica._ Be your own hero, little bird.

For the first time in ages, Dick Grayson, Robin, smiled.

Maybe it was time to get that date with Kory.


End file.
